Many fitness programs focus on firming your body, and S Factor can do that, but what really surprises most women about this movement is the affirming of their body that occurs. So I want to share with you an awesome body-AFFIRMING exercise I discovered while bathing with my three-year-old daughter, Miss Ruby. (Yes, the one that inspired Ruby's pose.) One night after eating a big dinner of broccoli and roasted chicken, she started saying how she hated her belly cause it was too (get this) fat. She was three and weighed 26 pounds and was calling her belly fat! Well you can imagine how quickly the hackles went up on the back of my neck. I acted fast. "I love your belly. I love my belly. (I had eaten the same dinner so it was a real challenge looking down at my inflated belly to say that with a truthful tone but righteousness prevails.) Know what else I love? I love my elbow. I love my pinkie finger. I love my knee..." She and I went through our own bodies together kissing the parts we could get to and touching the others (feet, ankles, back of the neck, etc.). It was such an empowering experience for her that she still does it to this day. (Now she's four.) She talks about how much she loves her body, how it's beautiful. She talks about how she loves my body (even after I eat a big ole' pasta dinner). She sees her body not as something to be judged but as this extraordinary place in which she lives.

Here's the funny thing…this exercise totally altered MY body attitude, too. Being the media jaded adult woman that I am (and certainly not Madison Avenue perfect), I often would think to myself, "My this is too that. My that is too this." I instantly stopped doing it. I just stopped judging and being intolerant. I began to look at my body as this glorious vessel that takes me through this glorious, sometimes challenging, life. Look at it this way, you've got one body, one life, this is it. You can choose to criticize it and wished you lived in another body or you can choose to love and pamper and celebrate its unique beauty. This body affirming game with my daughter became another chapter in this body love affair that began when S Factor came into my life five years ago and it's going strong. It's also the inspiration for our body conscious exercise this month.

Still struggling with this concept? Try looking at it this way. If you could step outside of yourself for a moment and look at your body as you would, say, a car, your body attitude might adjust a bit. Think about it. You probably treat your car better than you treat your body. Your car will only take you so far without gasoline (food), why not make that top of the line premium fuel at that. If you flood the engine (overeat) your car won't run well. If you crash it up, bang it up, smash it up - you best fix it up or it will eventually fall apart. As a car ages it needs tender loving care. A good polish, a nice shine, a regular wax job, a buffing and a good rubdown of the leather interior with oil and lotion does wonders for the overall well-being of an old car. The same is true for an "old" body. A well loved car will carry you through it's lifetime with grace, elegance and ease, and a well loved body will do the same thing.

And if you're looking for some sexy, yummy, sensual ways to celebrate Valentine's Day with your guy S-style, then take a bite of the peach!

Thank you for all of your powerful, inspiring and sometimes critical letters about last month's editorial (view last month's letter). Apparently, the subject of woman to woman honor is a hot topic. We're including some of your responses in a new section called, Letters to Sheila. Glad I could ignite your flames and get you thinking, writing and debating so passionately. Click to view "Letters to Sheila".